Saturday News, June 2nd

Fire Department Issues Monthly Report

(Le Mars) -- Le Mars Fire Chief Dave Schipper has released the Fire and Rescue monthly report for May. Thirty times the Le Mars Fire Department were called. Five of those calls were fire calls, seven were rescue related, and eleven times the fire department were called to assist with the clean up of an accident, or odor investigations. Schipper also mentions that the Le Mars Fire Department now consists of 31 members, which is the most members on the department in the last 20 years. Also, 28 members of the Le Mars Fire and Rescue Unit have been re-certified in Hazardous materials operations which is a four-hour refresher course.

Llibrary Board To Meet

(Le Mars) -- The Le Mars Public Library Board of Trustees are scheduled to meet on Monday at 5:30 p.m. at the library. The library trustees will review the summer reading program activities. In other action, the trustees will hear committee reports regarding the building...community relations...and finances.

Fort Dodge Glove Company Closes

FORT DODGE, Iowa (AP) - A Fort Dodge company where specialty gloves were made since 1970 has closed, costing 22 production workers their jobs. The Ansell Hawkeye factory closed on Thursday. Operations Manager Mark Lolley blamed theclosure on Pentagon budget cuts, saying the Defense Department was the company's biggest customer. Lolley says there were be layoffs at the company's plants in Arkansas, Illinois and Michigan. Ansell Hawkeye made gloves out of leather and cotton, and were used by soldiers, firefighters and hunters. It bought the former Hawkeye Glove Manufacturing plant in 2008.

Several State Legislators Face Primary Challenges

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Republican voters in this year's primary have lots of choices when it comes to Iowa legislative races. That's especially true in the House, where 26 seats held by Republicans have contested races in Tuesday's election. One central Iowa district north of Des Moines has six Republican candidates. The GOP has 10 primary races in the Senate including three incumbents facing challenges. Democrats have four primary races. The abundance of candidates is in part a result of redistricting, the once-in-a-decade redrawing of political maps to reflect population shifts. It makes incumbents, who normally would be well positioned to win re-election more vulnerable as they must introduce themselves to new constituents in the newly drawn districts. The new legislative maps put 41 lawmakers in new districts with other incumbents. It should be noted that Le Mars state representative Chuck Soderberg is running unopposed.

Iowa Agriculture Department Quarantines Bulls

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - State agriculture officials have issued a quarantine order for a facility where two bulls tested positive for a venereal disease in cattle. The disease, bovine trichomoniasis (trik-uh-muh-NEYE'-uh-sis), is a reportable disease in Iowa. Officials say there are no clinical signs of the disease in the bulls, but it can be spread tocows and it causes infertility. The department says Friday that the quarantine will remain in place until further testing confirms the disease is no longer present in the herd. The facility was not identified. Officials say this is the first known case of the disease in Iowa. There have been over 200 cases in Missouri.